Trust
by Kshetra
Summary: Post the events of Half Blood Prince, trusting someone is not the easiest thing to do. A story revolving around Draco Malfoy, Severus Snape and Harry Potter.
1. Strange Meetings

A/n: A big thank you to Oldoverholt, my Beta Queen!

**Trust**

Chapter One Strange Meetings 

It came pretty close to genocide, really. A little misdirection, a few false hints, and the prospect of more information had led the troupe of aurors right into a trap.

At the first sign of trouble, the aurors had scattered off into different directions in the woods. The pouring rain and the night had not helped either side, but the aurors had been seriously outnumbered. Before they could gather their wits, the Death Eaters attacked.

The poor buggers had not stood a chance.

Most were dead; the less fortunate ones had been tortured and now were being systematically disposed off.

"Pathetic, so very pathetic," mumbled Draco, as he walked beside Bellatrix.

"I hope you mean the weather, Draco," drawled Bellatrix, as she shown her wand over the slushy ground.

He flushed at her words but then began to complain loudly,

"Of course, I mean the bloody weather. I am soaked to the skin, I got hit on my face and it's sure to leave a nasty bruise, and my dragon hide boots are utterly ruined," he did not add that he also thought that the aurors had been pathetic, to walk so stupidly, into an ambush. Bella would never understand.

She laughed sympathetically though and Draco took this as a good sign. She had not even given him one of her boring on-spot lectures of _how nothing must deter us from serving the dark lord_ and so he pressed on.

"Aunt Bella, can't I go? We've won already. Now it just a matter of rounding up the numbers and you don't really need me for that, do you."

She glared at him so fiercely that, in the end, his charming smile was toned down to a weaker watery version of it. He could see that she was not going to let him off easily and braced himself for the speech that was sure to follow.

"Draco, when are you going to accept your responsibilities? This work that you do serves our lord. Don't you get any pleasure from killing these dirty aurors that stand in the way of our lord? The fact that you were chosen so young for this should fill you with pride." She gestured emphatically as she spoke.

Draco nodded gravely and after a moment's pause, asked again, "So, can I go?"

She curled her fingers into fists, suppressing the urge to shake him by his shoulders and scream at him. "No," she said stoically and stalked off.

But Draco was not going to give up that easily; after all, whinging, for Draco Malfoy, was truly an art form.

"But Aunt Bella," he shouted after her, in his best complaining voice.

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It had taken several more pleas and theatrical sighs before she had given in to his complaints. Of course, she would not let him off that easily. He had to scan a smaller area, close to the eastern boundary of the woods and send up red sparks if he found one of their own hurt or dead.

Though it was slightly creepy, Draco preferred attacks during the night. That way, there were less chances of anyone discovering that he did practically nothing during these attacks. He usually passed such nights with a good defensive shield and a number of random spells thrown at some inanimate objects, or like tonight at some unsuspecting tree. Draco Malfoy had come to the painful conclusion long ago; he was too much of a coward to actually kill anyone.

Tonight, however, the darkness was oppressive and the Lumos spell on his wand tip seemed to be fighting a losing battle with the overwhelming darkness. The rain had stopped by then and now it was deadly quite, and he could only hear the squelching mud under his boot. The trees sprang into his vision at odd angles as he made sweeping arcs with his wand, once in a while he would stumble over some undergrowth, and then the quiet would be disturbed by his own fluent cursing. He was reminded of the Forbidden Forest and was almost on the verge of apparating out of the woods for good, when the light suddenly shown on the dead body of Goyle senior.

He felt the bile rise up in his throat and his grip on his wand reflexively tightened. He was never going to really get used to this, how many ever times he saw the same kind of spectacle.

Goyle had never been a handsome man, and death had only rendered him more grotesque. Draco, despite his sense of sickening, could not help but peer closer at the hideous marks covering the death eater. Large deep gashes across his entire body, as if sharp deep claws of a dragon had been dragged across him. It had cut across his face as well and one of his eyes was destroyed. The other, in contrast, lay open and unseeing. His wand lay in his hand.

Draco sent the customary red sparks into the sky and cursed as he realized that he would now have to wait until one of the other Death Eaters arrived. He restarted the Lumos spell and focussed it farther away, more out of boredom than out of any thought of finding anything.

That's when he saw the other two.

The first turned out to be Amycus, and his condition was so identical to that of Goyle that it was obvious, that it was the same spell that had killed both of them. Amycus too had his wand and it looked like both had been taken by surprise.

A little away lay the third, and as Draco approached it cautiously, his first thought was that it was a ghost. The skin was hazy and his features almost translucent. Draco was almost tempted to prod it with his wand to see if it would go through.

It took him a while to realise what it was. _A metamorphis charm;_ the guy had obviously cast it on himself to change his appearance, and with his death, the effects of the charm were fading too.

He was mistaken; the charm was not fading. It was hazy, as if low on magic, which would mean the guy was…

Draco brought his wand to the figure's forehead as he muttered the counter spell. It was obvious it was some auror and the thought of saving his life did not cross Draco's mind. It would be of no use one-way or the other; Aunt Bella was sure to kill him. But he was curious…curious to know who it was…

He peered closer as the spell took effect, and the odd translucent features changed back into the recognizable face of …

Draco scrambled backwards, with a cry of surprise, as he recognized the detestable face.

Harry sodding Potter…

A while later Bellatrix came crashing through the woods, in response to the signal. She found the dead bodies of Goyle and Amycus.

As she later told Narcissa, she could not believe how unapologetic the boy was…apparating out alone when she had clearly told him to wait.

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Severus Snape was making more money out of his potion making skills now, when he was a proclaimed Death Eater, than when he used to serve as a potion master at England's premier wizarding institution.

The aurors, up until recently, had St Mungo's and its army of healers to treat their sick and wounded; not so, with Death Eaters. They were reduced to their own amateur healing spells and relied heavily on Severus' potions.

His potions were, therefore, in great demand and he was business minded enough to make an excellent profit.

So much for _selflessness among the brotherhood of Death Eaters_ that Lestrange was always raving about.

It was therefore not surprising that Severus Snape was in no mood to be disturbed that morning. He had just finished the groundwork for his b_lood replenishing potion_ and now had it would take another hour of painstakingly accurate procedure to see the potion to its completion.

"What is it, Minky?" he asked dismissively, even as he spelled the potion to self stir. He'd seen the creature tiptoe across the entrance of his workroom several times now and he knew she wanted something bothersome of him.

The young inexperienced creature had been a gift, for Christmas, from Narcissa. He had not been particularly keen to have the elf, but it was a better alternative to Wormtail. Snape was the creature's first master and it went to ridiculous levels to please him.

"Minky is sorry, but is telling him that master is not wanting disturbing, but he is not listening," stammered Minky reverentially.

"Well, who is it?"

"Minky is not asking," she replied and then bit out tremulously, "should Minky run into a wall as punishment,"

"I'd prefer, if you went and asked him," he answered dryly.

It could not be for anything important, he reasoned, as he opened a book. The dark lord had better ways to summon him and he wanted to get rid of whoever it was, quickly.

The elf was back and it made another one of its sweeping bows before it answered, "Draco Malfoy is wanting to see you."

It was only when the elf repeated it that the fact finally register. _Draco Malfoy? Come looking for him?_ It was a surprise; for the boy had hardly spoken to him, since the time, he had whisked him away from Hogwarts. Polite answers, short greetings, and an uncanny habit to never meet his eyes, the boy had picked up these traits since last year. And now, Malfoy had come looking for him?

"Show him in," said Snape, his curiosity aroused. Once Minky had left, he put the potion in a slow time warp and waited for the boy. He knew that it must be better than some old gossip that would cause Draco to reach out for him.

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Draco looked like an awkward schoolboy, standing at the doorway of the lab, his fingers clasped, and his face set in a tight-lipped smile.

"Hello Professor," he said softly.

Snape nodded in response, and waved him in.

"Give me moment, Draco while I put these away," he said, indicating to the ingredients.

He could easily have done it with a sweep of his wand, but he set about doing it manually in hopes of giving the boy enough time to start a conversation, without his prodding.

Draco, on the other hand, ambled off to stand before his shelf of books. He fingers traced the spine of the books and he looked particularly interested in one of them. He was just about to pull it out but left it alone when he saw that Snape seemed finished with his work.

"I…I just came, because mother asked me to. She was wondering whether you would have a fresh batch of bruise healing paste. Aunt Bellatrix is rather bruised up from last night's attack. He said stiffly.

It was typical of Narcissa to ask for potions on her cousin's behalf, as she was well aware of the animosity between Bellatrix and him. What he found hard to believe, was that she could have persuaded Draco to come and ask. Narcissa had even lamented to him at her son's behaviour…

'_I cannot believe how ungrateful Draco is acting. He refuses to have anything to do with you. I wish you would persuade him to talk.'_

"Of course," he said smoothly. He came over, towards the cupboard near the shelf of books, and pulled out a tube of the yellow salve. His eyes caught the book that Draco had seemed keen about…'_Magical Maladies and Wounds Volume Xlll'. _

He took the salve with muttered thanks, and Snape used the half-minute of eye contact to prod invisibly inside Draco's head, but he might as well have hit a granite wall. Occlumency had strangely enough been one of Draco's natural gifts.

"I hear that you were the one who discovered Goyle and Amycus's bodies. There was a strange curse on both of them, correct?" Severus needed to get the boy talking and this was a stab in the dark. The boy had looked interested in the book and perhaps if he got him talking about the incident last night, he could presently be persuaded to talk about other things.

Severus noticed a remarkable change in the boy during the course of the question. The stiff, indifferent expression gave way to a second of pure panic, fear, and strangely enough guilt. He schooled his face almost instantly and began to reply, but to Severus, for whom reading a person's thoughts and expressions was almost reflexive, the change was noticeable.

" Perhaps a _sectumiaria_," Snape said finally.

"Yes, but that wouldn't cause this much damage."

" Another version of it, then; they must have been killed instantly."

Uncomfortable silence filled the wake of the statement, but to Snape's relief it was Draco, who spoke up.

"What would happen if you used Crucio on a deep wound?" At Snape's surprised expression he added dismissively, "I've just heard about them, if I knew it did something worse than a normal Crucio, I could use it on the aurors."

He said it with such gravity that it was difficult for Snape not to laugh outright. He agreed with Narcissa on the matter, the boy had been too ridiculously young to be a Death Eater. Unlike his father, death and physical torture of muggle-borns raised no cries of enjoyment or perverse pleasure from Draco. In fact, he shied away from it. He just was not hardened enough for it. The dark lord had sensed it long ago and used it effectively against him. The lord called him his weak, cowardly little Death Eater.

To hear him talking about worse forms of Crucio, as if he used them regularly…it was absurd.

He did not, however, point this out to Draco and instead asked, "As in to channel the curse right into his veins."

"Yes, I think that's what…yeah that," he said hurriedly.

"It could cause death, or at least bring the person close to it. Blood loss, partial or complete paralysis, loss of vision, hearing, speech …" he answered.

"That's it," Draco asked weakly. He looked almost sick now.

"Oh, much more; there are chances of irreparable brain damage. But it all depends, on where the spell was targeted, the magical levels of the castor…"

"But this…all this is curable right, if the person survives death," cut in Draco; he seemed to have heard enough about the effects.

"Perhaps, with extreme care, the right potions…the right spells. Not easy but not impossible, either. Nerve healing spells, re'em elixirs, blood replenishing spells…"

Draco seemed extremely flustered by the list. "So many; the potions aren't even easily available; with St Mungo's burnt down; the bloody aurors don't stand a chance." He laughed as if he found this extremely funny.

"You will also need to have most of the potions made specifically, depending on the type of injuries," pointed out Snape, softly. _So it would be better if you told me what the hell all this is about, _thought the former potions master to himself.

"I better be going then," said Draco, in a half whisper. He seemed dazed by what he had heard and he walked off slowly towards the door.

"Draco," called Snape, quietly.

He stopped and turned around and Snape could sense behind the thin shield of Occlumency, the boy's thoughts were in turmoil. This was the best time, if he planned to attack.

"If you are still interested in the effects of the curse, I think this would be useful. He had pulled out the book that Draco had been keen about before."

There was in fact nothing about dark curses in the book, but he wanted to see Draco's expression and sure enough…

He came forward and took the proffered book willingly. He met Snape's eye to thank him; but he never did get the words across. Snape had used the moment to whip his concealed wand out, and pointing it at Draco at point blank range he drawled, "_Legilimens._"

Draco, for all his natural skill was still a novice, and though he tried to occlude at once, Snape had found the gap, the glimmer of hope that had crossed the boy's face when Snape had offered the book. He followed that thread of hope in the boy's thoughts and finally found the source and images exploded in Draco's head… the pitch blackness of the previous night, the looming trees in the light of Lumos, the near death figure of Harry Potter lying in the soft wet soil, apparating out of there to…"

But Draco would not let him see anymore. He was pushing Severus out, the magic swelling inside him and he used such force that a shocked Snape found himself staring at the pale, sweaty face of Draco Malfoy.

The boy stumbled back from him, and he would have toppled over had Snape not yanked him up by his shoulders. The boy was babbling now, his eyes wide with fear.

"Severus, believe me, I was not planning to betray the lord. I…I saw him there and I knew...he'd die…aunt Bella would have killed…the lord wants him alive…I knew …that's why…I swear Professor…I swear on my honour…I'd planned to bring him to the lord when…"

"Shut up," said Snape, knowing quite well that the boy was lying.

He did not dare let go of Draco, not only was the boy too exhausted, but he also knew that he might try something stupid like apparating.

Draco had thankfully fallen quiet, letting Snape think. Snape's lips almost quirked as he realized what the boy had tried to do; such foolhardy courage seemed alien in the boy.

Not that it had lasted long,

"Professor, you…you won't tell, will you?" he asked hesitantly, his face drawn in despair.

Resigned to the fact that he would just have to plunge headlong into it, Snape said finally, "Take me to where he is."


	2. Stranger Actions

Chapter Two

They had not gone at once of course. Snape had first collected every vital potion that was available and having given half of them to Draco, they had apparated out separately. It had been agreed that they would apparate through different locations, this was to throw the aurors off track, in case any of them were actually trying to locate them.

Theoretically speaking, the aurors had a good idea as to where the notorious Death Eater Severus Snape lived; the Fidelius charm however prevented the aurors from turning up at his doorstep uninvited.

If Snape had felt apprehensive about letting the boy go alone, he did not show it. He had given him the instructions precisely and after an initial moment of confusion, the boy had gone along with them mutely. Whatever he was thinking, his questions and doubts, Draco kept them to himself. When Snape at last apparated to the address, he found much to his relief Draco waiting for him.

Snape was looking around critically, his eyes taking in the crumbling brick red house, the barn, and the untended garden overrun with weeds.

"It is a muggle farm," said Severus conversationally, a trace of humour in his voice.

"I did not have much of a choice, all right," snapped Draco. "I had seen the place when I was scouting the area before the attack. It was close to the woods and uninhabited, so …" he trailed off, still uncomfortable with admitting he had helped Potter. "He is in the barn," he added sullenly.

The inside of the barn was normal enough, if you could avoid looking at the four-poster bed tucked neatly in between the stacks of hay at the far right hand corner of the barn.

Draco had always been good at transfiguration, and he seemed to have recreated his bed from Hogwarts right down to its Slytherin colours. The covers swallowed up the thin knobbly figure of Potter, who looked even younger than he was.

Severus Snape set to work immediately, with Draco hovering behind him.

"I didn't know what was wrong with him at first," Draco, explained, even as Snape muttered diagnostic spells over the body. "I mean, I didn't see the blood, from his side, and I gave him a strengthening potion but when I took off his cloak…"

Draco fell silent as Snape gingerly peeled away the haphazard bandage, just above Potter's hip, and sure enough, the ugly wound came into focus. There was literally a hole the size of a bludger, and the red flesh was swollen.

"It looked worse yesterday, what with the bleeding and I swear the flesh was pulsating," whispered Draco, his face twisted in disgust.

"That would be because of the Cruciatus Curse. Chances are some sort of poison must have been used to keep the wound from healing," said Snape matter-of-factly. While Draco watched in morbid fascination, Snape scraped at it with a knife and transferred a bit of the flesh into a vial, all the time careful not to touch it.

"I used a wound healing potion, shouldn't the poison be…"

Snape cut him off, "You will need something stronger than a wound healing potion to counteract the poison, Draco. Honestly, I thought you learned something more useful than just Potter baiting in my potion classes," he drawled maliciously.

Draco flushed and shut up, much to Snape's satisfaction. He was admittedly being too hard on the boy, as from the looks of it, he had miraculously enough, with his rudimentary skills in healing, kept Potter alive during the night. He however, needed to think and Draco's endless chatter was not helping.

The boy was still sallow from loss of blood, and feverish; the poison in the wound probably contributing to that. As for other damages, it would take Snape more time to assess each one.

Snape tipped a number of potions down Potter's throat, before asking abruptly, "Did he wake up at all?" Snape knew it was highly impossible, and yet…

Draco shook his head, "He has been out cold ever since I found him."

Then looking at Snape's grim expression, he asked haltingly, "Is that bad?"

"I cannot tell. It will take more time and more potions."

"But, you can heal his body by magic," Draco said animatedly

"And what will you do about his mind? You think that just one Cruciatus Curse was used on him. The pain is enough to make him lose his mind, if not worse… "

"If not worse, what could be worse than losing your mind?" Draco asked horrified.

"He may never wake up. His brain might have shut off, for good."

For a while, Draco remained silent, and then to Snape's surprise Draco chuckled, "Years I have spent spreading rumours that Potter's going bonkers for sure, and it had to happen now."

It was an odd statement and Snape looked searchingly at the boy, before he spoke. "I just said, it is a possibility."

Draco did not respond and Snape continued, "I shall be back soon. Give him some more of the blood replenishing potion after half an hour."

Draco's face instantly filled with despair and he said hoarsely, "Professor please, are you going to tell _him _that I am a traitor?"

"I won't be wrong now, will I?" Snape retorted. He wanted to see to what length the boy could be pushed and so he pressed on.

"I saw your memories Draco, along with your emotions. It would be an insult to your intelligence if you tried to lie now."

Draco flushed, and he said wildly, "I should run for it like…"

"Like Igor?" taunted Snape. "Oh yes, he lived like a dog for almost six months before the dark lord put an end to his suffering."

The boy stumbled away from Snape as if he had been dealt with a physical blow. He seemed lost, utterly lost as to how to deal with the situation. All at once, his face hardened and he said fiercely, "Then perhaps I should try and kill you, considering you are the only one who knows." He pulled out his wand, his fingers curling in a tight fist around the wand, but he was shaking from head to toe.

"Do you think you can kill me?" sneered Snape; he did not even bother to pull out his wand.

"No," said Draco backing away from him, "but I figure I should try at the least." He came to a stop, as his legs brushed against the bed.

It was obvious enough that he was shit scared.

Snape snorted in disgust as he said curtly, "Put that away, Draco. If I did not know better, I would say that Gryffindor's false bravado is contagious. If we were back in school, your behaviour would have forced me to dock points from my own house. Now, I want some answers. You went home last night, didn't you?"

Draco Malfoy looked positively scandalized. He wondered idly as to whether it was he or Snape who had gone utterly barking mad.

"Well?" sneered Snape, he had reverted to his classroom behaviour, the one he used on Gryffindors.

"Yeah, er yes sir." When he realized Snape wanted more information he continued, "I gave him some of the draughts and cleared up his wound, then went home. Mother knows I don't like being disturbed on nights when I take part in one of the attacks. So it was safe to sneak away, once I'd made a show of going to bed. By morning, I realized that something was really wrong with him and I did not know what to do. St Mungo's burnt down or I would have probably activated a distress spell around him and it's not like I can go to Hogwarts with him and demand to see Pomfrey." He smiled grimly at the particular image in his head.

"And so you came to me for what, advice?" He sounded scathing but his hopes rose at the thought. Draco had come to him, not to Bellatrix or even to his mother. Apart from feeling slightly flattered, he felt it was a good sign.

"Something like that," Draco answered shiftily. "I knew, only you would know how to treat such a curse and so…"

_Foolish boy, did he really think he could wheedle out information from me?_

He was not angry per se, just amused at the boy's raw ideas.

They stayed like that for a while, both lost in their own thoughts, until Snape, as if making his mind up, said, "Well, I will have to go and see your mother, so as to tell her the wonderful news."

"Which is?" asked Draco softly, not daring to meet Snape's eye.

"That we have smoothened out our differences and that we have progressed so well that it's high time I help you with your lessons," he finished smoothly.

Draco looked surprised at first but then asked cautiously,

"It might excuse the time I am going to spend helping you with him, but you think she'll buy that?"

"Of course, after all it was her suggestion. One of her secret sorrows was that her 'very intelligent' son could not complete his studies because of the dark lord's return. In fact, though she'll never admit it, she resents him for that."

Draco made a face, as he grumbled about her excessive 'mother-ishness', but Snape could see he was pleased with the idea.

His attention shifted to Potter and anger flared up slightly, _'whatever had the foolish boy been thinking, going with those aurors?' _but he didn't have time to ponder about it at the moment, and instead said to Draco,

"I will put a few spells on the premises though the less magic that we use the better. The place isn't safe and we will have to move him somewhere else. Use a cooling charm on him if the fever rises."

Draco nodded absentmindedly, his eyes still hovering on Potter. Snape could sense his unease and he wished he had more time…more time to think this ludicrous little venture through and to draw a clear defining line as to where Draco stood.

"So that's it," began Draco hesitantly. "You are not going to tell him."

"Not at the moment."

"But what sort of a mad game are you playing? On whose side…" he spluttered to a stop at Snape's sneering expression.

"The less you know, the better, Draco," he drawled. "I expect you to do as I say, and not ask any more questions. In return, you will not have to worry about the disclosure of your impulsive actions."

Draco looked ready to argue, but then his shoulders sagged and he nodded miserably.

"Good, I trust, you will still be here, when I return," Snape said dismissively.

His words though had been carefully chosen and he saw Draco start at the word 'trust.'

Draco mumbled a yes, his grey eyes catching Severus' for the briefest instant. If the boy had any foolish plans to run away, they seemed swiped clear by Severus' words. The boy seemed willing, at least for now, to trust him.

The thought only made Snape scowl more. He did not want this…this responsibility of being answerable to the trust of a seventeen year old.

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"You're planning to take him WHERE?" thundered Draco. He had been mentally prepared to act like Snape's lapdog. Snape's suggestion however had caught him off guard and he was far from heaping simpering praise on to it.

Snape hardly spared Draco a glance. He had paid a short visit to Malfoy Manor and then had gone immediately to his potion lab. He had found much to his relief, that the poison was not lethal. Its purpose seemed to keep the wound festering, and now that the antidote was applied, the wound was beginning to heal slowly.

Potter's condition, however, was far from satisfactory. The boy was all skin and bones and seemed to have been wasting away, for a while now. He wondered darkly as to what Molly Weasley had been up to. Was it not her sole use to the Order, to keep the pack of them well fed?

"Professor?" Draco's whining was getting to the irate wizard, and he levelled a cool gaze at him.

"I believe you heard me perfectly well the first time."

"But you cannot take him to your place," wailed Draco.

"And why is that?"

"Because _that_ is the home of a Death Eater and _this _is Harry Potter we are talking about." Draco's voice suggested that Snape was about to commit cold-blooded murder.

Snape shot him a patronizing glance before he said with evident contempt, "I wonder whether you are suffering from a Confundus charm, Draco, or did I miss the flyer which declared that Draco Malfoy had joined Potter's fan club?"

Draco's glare for all its impressiveness was completely lost on Snape. He continued briskly, his fingers already deftly packing the potion vials.

Draco on his part kept a mutinous silence throughout the proceedings and Snape finally explained, "The aurors are sure to scan the peripheral area to the attack as soon as they finish handling the family of the aurors that you kindly helped to dispose off." He saw Draco flinch, much to his satisfaction and he pressed on, "If they spot the magic, they are sure to come down …"

"And if we leave Potter here, they will treat him," cut in Draco angrily.

"The basic skills aurors posses, Draco, is spelling out hexes from a sixth grade dark art's defence text book and acting superior. Their healing skills are next to nothing. Potter needs expertise."

"They'll take him to a healer," countered Draco. Truth was, he was terrified of the mess he was getting himself into; leaving Potter to fend for himself, seemed a good way to back out.

"What would happen then? The aurors will have a field day. What a better way to redeem themselves in the public eye. _Boy who lived _saved by the scan and patrol division of aurors. It will be all over the papers. The dark lord will make enquiries and the exact way Potter was found is sure to come to light. Do you think that our lord will be so dense as to not notice that the boy who left the attack early that night and the traitor are the same?"

Draco was now looking aghast.

"I never thought…"

"That's quite evident," cut in Snape maliciously.

Draco looked wearied by the verbal assault, and he hung his head, his eyes downcast.

"He will be safe in my house," offered Snape much more patiently than before. "The aurors could look for all eternity and not have a clue and the dark lord is hardly going to be surveying the quarters of his most trusted Death Eater."

"What about Potter's bloody friends? They were not at the attack; they must be looking for him."

"They don't know."

"Come on, Professor, they must know about the attack already. The mudblood is probably going to appear on the Daily Prophet's front page, all teary eyed and snivelling."

"They did not know Potter was going with the aurors," clarified Snape.

For a second, Draco was confused as to how Snape could know this and then he said accusingly, "You have been looking inside his head."

"Such a crude way of putting it, Draco, I barely skimmed through his thoughts. What was the bait for the aurors?" he asked abruptly.

"It was the Death Eaters of course. Aunt Bellatrix planned it."

"Yes, but what was the wording. Why would a host of Death Eater's show up unguarded in the middle of nowhere?"

Draco shrugged and he answered dismissively, "It was something very vague. A rumour, that the Death Eaters were searching for something; something precious to the dark lord. Personally, I thought the aurors were half wits to have fallen for it."

_Something precious to the dark lord, Potter must have thought it was one of the…_

He said suddenly to Draco, "I believe a letter to the two of them would put matters at rest, for a while at least."

"A letter from… Potter?" Draco asked slowly. Draco could see the sense in it, if it were properly worded and seemed genuinely from Potter.

"I was hoping you would write it. You must have some idea as to how he would phrase it." Snape knew that he would have to let Draco word it; he was too old to attempt a seventeen year olds letter.

Draco seemed surprised at being asked and then said with a wicked laugh, "I would love to."

"You realize that he would never start the letter with '_dear mudblood and weasel,_'" Snape said reproachfully.

"Yeah, but I was hoping that I could sign it off as '_the biggest arse that ever lived…Harry Potter_," laughed Draco. Then seeing that Snape was serious he sobered up to say, "but what about Potter's handwriting and surely Granger would scry to make sure the letter is genuinely from Potter."

Snape sneered as he said, "Do you think I could not fool a mere school girl, Draco?"

Malfoy's could display good manners at rare occasions. He was still not very comfortable with the idea of shifting Potter to Snape's house, but he did want to smooth out their differences.

"I am sorry I doubted you."

"You should be. It's the cause of all this mess."

Draco was surprised by the amount of spite the words carried and there was something offensive about the wording. He racked his brains even as Snape busied himself in removing the wards, and other traces of magic from the muggle barn. Soon the bed that Potter had been lying on was back to being just another haystack.

Snape hoisted up Potter as he pushed another dose of strengthening potion down Harry's throat. Hopefully, it would counteract the weakening that was sure to come from apparating.

It was only after Snape had disapparated, along with Potter, that Draco caught on to Snape's meaning. _He must have been referring to last year, when I would not tell him my plans. _Feeling severely chastened, Draco Malfoy apparated out of the muggle barn.

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First off, I want to thank Oldoverholt, my extroadinary beta reader.

This story is very experimental, and I really value each and every one of your reviews.

So thanks to Rebell (your review made me laugh!) duj, Flame Dancer077, The Fuzy Llama (Draco is different from the way I normally write him. I want him to be shit scared of what he is getting into. give him a chance…he may surprise you yet.)

So keep those reviews coming. Even if it is only to tell me how bad it is!

To the people who read NQTKSA, I know you guys must be completely peeved, but I haven't really abandoned it. I will finish it soon, if only for my own satisfaction, and anyone still interested can kick me for spoiling it.

Kshetra


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